Asking for a friend, as I honestly have no clue what the consensus is amongst Naim system owners.
His system is a NAC 252/SCDR/NAP 250DR/NDX2/XPSDR.
I believe he has all Powerlines, but also has some top-of-the-line/upper-tier Shunyata PCs as well, one of them being in the Omega XC line, which costs nearly as much as any of my components.
I wanted to tell him on your source (the XPSDR that is powering the NDX2), but then I thought about the preamplifier as being pretty significant in terms of importance (so on the SCDR), as everything benefits from it. Power ampāI figured this likely isnāt the spot in comparison. So, what would folks here do?
Thereās no consensus on this forum on which box is best to get your first (or sole) PowerLine (or other premium cable). Back when they first came out, I recall that more than one expert whose opinions I respected advised that the power amp was the best candidate, presumably because it had the biggest current draw. I donāt know if these experts actually did much testing, or if they were following the existing view that, with a Wiremold-type power strip, the power amp should be plugged into the first outlet, for the same reason.
Ideally, your friend should experiment. If it were me, Iād start with the power amp, and maybe experiment with others, but only after at least several weeks to allow the cable to burn in and to allow my ears to get used to the sound.
Youād think that anyone whoād bought a Ā£7,000 power cable would have the noddle to realise itās a case of trying the options, rather than asking their mate to enquire on a forum where the likelihood of members having used the cable is virtually nil. Why would anyone put a Ā£7,000 Shunyata on a mid range Naim system in the first place? More money than sense? Theyād be far better selling it for a 555 PS. Why not join the Forum and ask their own questions?
A while ago when I bought my first powerline I was told to put it between the wall socket and the power strip/block to give all the components the benefit of it. Not sure if your friend has a power block but what I was told seems sensible to me and might be worth a go.
Maybe.
Look, I honestly have no clue what he plans on doing with his system. Heās toyed with the idea of upgrading and some of these cords he has. Having more money than sense has little to do with anything. There are lots of folks on here I could say the same about. Just pick a thread and see where moneyās spent. I donāt judge. Heās not a hard core Naimee. I am. I thought Iād help and I tried.
We can close the thread for all I care at this point. Iāll tell him to try for himself. That was good advice, I suppose.
Man, this forum is getting chippier and chippier by the thread.
I have absolutely no problem with you asking for your friend, I just donāt think itās very effective because you most likely canāt know the things youād have to know when the inevitable questions are asked. Like what his plans are ā¦
Anyways, if your friend had asked directly what to do with the 7K cable they happened to buy, the replies may well have been not very different.
Usually I donāt buy anything without trying out. A decent dealer will be of great help there if course but not always in a position to do so. Also decent distributors are also a great help because they will also have demo stocks.
FWIW I agree with @billywindsock . Your friend should try the Shunyata cable in different components.
I would start with the Supercap as a logical place as any other. I certainly would not approach a dealer lest they opine that the Powerlines arenāt doing the system justice, but another Ā£14k of Shunyata should see him right.
I would counsel him to leave it in situ whichever component is selected for a couple of weeks at least.
I only have supplied as standard cables in my system so my comments should be taken in that context.
It seems: That Shunyata XC power cable was designed to allow a Shunyata Research power conditioner to āachieve its absolute maximum performanceā.
From the wall socket to such a device - if your friend has one - should be the best place to put it.
I asked and he doesnāt currently use a power block or regenerator. Heās got a captive-type āstar groundā strip, like a CablePro or Wiremold. He has a dedicated room with outlets as well.
I just told him to put it on the Supercap and be done with it.